Packers' Free Agents Sign Elsewhere...

As is the norm, Ted Thompson and the Packers have been extremely quiet this offseason. It should come as no surprise to any real Packer fans that no free agents have even visited Green Bay. It should also come as no surprise that the ties between QB Matt Flynn and C Scott Wells are now cut.



Wells forewent the Packers' offer to stay in Green Bay and found more money in St. Louis. This is not surprising because Thompson does not like to sign aging free agents. Wells is 31. Will the Packers now pursue a veteran to fill the huge void in the middle of the offensive line, or will they trust their typical strategy and try to find a capable rookie via the draft? I, personally, am hoping for a mixture of the 2. I'd like to see us get middle dollar veteran to start the season, and groom a rookie for the future. I'm really nervous that this could become another Cullen Jenkins-Mike Neal situation (By the way, Neal is suspended for the 1st 4 games of the 2012 season for the use of PED's...he's turning into Justin Harrell...)




Now on to Matt Flynn...I had been saying for months that I thought Flynn would sign in Miami. When Philbin was hired as the head coach in January, I thought it was a done deal. But, much to my surprise, Flynn met with Miami last week and left without a contract. He then signed a 3-year $26 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. It's eerie to think of the similarities between Flynn's and Matt Hasselbeck's paths...late round pick...career backup behind a Super Bowl winning QB...brought to Seattle by a former Packers' staffer...now we just need to hope that Flynn throws a game-losing INT in overtime to Al Harris to allow the Packers to advance in the playoffs...

The Flynn situation does little to affect the Packers. We all expected him to leave. Now we're hoping that we can get a 3rd round compensatory pick for him in 2013...Wells, however could prove to be more difficult to cope with. I wish them both the best. GO PACK!

Packers-Giants Divisional Playoff Preview

If any of you don't know, whether it's because you stumbled upon this by mistake or because you are one of our Chinese followers and don't get American football news, the Giants defeated the Falcons 24-2 on Sunday and advanced to the NFC Divisional Playoff round. They will go to Green Bay to face the Packers at 4:30 EST (3:30 CST) on Sunday, January 15th.

The Giants have the look of that team that gets hot at the end of the year and nobody wants to play. Much like the Packers were last season. We here at the Malnarn agree that we would have rather played the Falcons, but I am confident that the Packers have what it takes to win this game. Here are some things to watch for.

1. Packers O-line vs Giants' Pass Rush - Rodgers is one of the best QBs in the league against the blitz. The problem here is that the Giants have possibly the best defensive line in the NFL and do not need to blitz much. This allows them to focus more on coverage. The Packers offensive line will be as healthy as they have been all season with the return of Bryan Bulaga and Chad Clifton. If they can keep Aaron clean, the game will be lopsided in the Packers' favor.

2. Giants Receivers vs Packers' Secondary - We really miss Nick Collins. To me it's the biggest reason for the Packers' last place passing defense. The Giants have very good WRs as well (not as good as the Packers, but that's beside the point). Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz have been lighting it up the past 4 weeks. Tramon Williams and Sam Shields will need to pick their game up and become lock down corners.

3. The Return of Greg Jennings - Jennings missed the final 3 games of the season with a torn MCL in his left knee. He has since returned to practice and is expected to be close to full strength against the Giants. The Packers proved that the offense can function without him, but the margin of improvement from James Jones to Greg Jennings is significant. Every Packer fan will be happy to see #85 back on the field.

4. Clay Matthews and Dom Capers - The Packers have thrived on forcing turnovers this season. It's been the one redeeming factor in an otherwise loose defense. Turnovers almost always start with pressure on the opposing QB, especially in Capers' 3-4 scheme. Will Dom bring back the psycho defense and add some new wrinkles to get Clay more opportunities? I hope so. We all know that Eli is prone to mistakes when he's under duress.

5. Running Game - This is something to watch for on both sides of the ball. James Starks' status is still in question for the game and the Packers have been neglecting the run ever since he went down with an ankle injury several weeks ago. Can he return and give the Packers' run game a boost like he did in 2010? If we can run the ball and control the clock, it will help the defense to rest and be absolutely huge for the offense. On the flip side, the Giants' RBs have been phenomenal as of late. The return of Ahmad Bradshaw gave them a new look on offense and that honestly scares me a little. We will need Raji and Pickett to be dominant up front to close any holes that the Giants' o-line opens up.

6. Special Teams - On a cold day at Lambeau, special teams could be the difference. I don't anticipate either team punting too often, but when they do they will be trying to flip the field. I also don't anticipate many field goals being attempted, but at the end of the 1st half and at the end of the game last second field goals could be the difference...much like the meeting in the regular season between these 2 teams.

The Packers are favored in this game, but I think that the Giants match up really well with us. I think if the offense can execute and the defense can come up with a handful of stops that the Packers will win by 10+. But if the offense struggles and the defense shows no improvement then it's going to come down to a last second field goal. We'll all hope for the former! GO PACK!

2011 Regular Season Re-cap

In August, I blogged about my predictions for the 2011 season. And I don't want to sound too proud of myself, but I was pretty darn good! Here's a re-cap of the NFC North:

Packers

My Pre-season Prediction: 11-5, 1st in the division
Actual: 15-1, 1st in the division

The Packers surprised a lot of people by remaining undefeated into December, myself included. I knew the offense was good, but I didn't know they were THIS good. I think that they surprised even more people with the lack of defense. This team had had a top 5 defense 2 years in a row (2009-10), but fizzled in 2011 with the injury to Nick Collins and the loss of Cullen Jenkins. The pass rush has been pathetic and the secondary coverage has been almost as bad. The redeeming factor has been the turnover margin. The Packers have dominated the league with over 30 interceptions. Will the dependence on turnovers make or break the team in the playoffs? We'll start to find out in 2 weeks!

Lions

My Pre-season Prediction: 9-7, 2nd in the division
Actual: 10-6, 2nd in the division

I said all along that Stafford's health would determine the success of this team. And he has started all 16 games. The Lions came out of the gates strong, winning their first 5 games. But then they started to tail off down the stretch. The suspension of Ndamukong Suh seemed to be a big blow to this team. But they have since rebounded and earned a playoff spot for the first time in over 10 years. Granted, they are the 6 seed but it is still impressive. The Lions have a lot of young talent in Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford and on the defensive line. If they can find a RB that can stay healthy they will be tough in the years to come. The question at hand now is whether they can go to New Orleans and upset the Saints in the wildcard playoff game this weekend.

Bears

My Pre-season Prediction: 7-9, 3rd in the division
Actual: 8-8

This was the prediction I was most nervous about 10 games into the year. The bears were sitting at 7-3 and looked like a team that nobody wanted to play. But then the injuries started. First Jay Cutler went down with a hand injury after trying to make a tackle after an interception. Not the end of the world...but then the worst thing imaginable for the bears happened...Matt Forte who accounted for almost all of their offense went down with a knee injury and that ended pretty much all hope for the bears. They finished the season 1-5 and missed the playoffs. Mike Martz and their GM are gone and the Bears will go into a pseudo-rebuilding mode in 2012. It will be interesting to see what the future of Matt Forte holds. He is an unrestricted Free Agent. It's likely that the bears will use the franchise tag on him to keep him from signing elsewhere. We're all hoping they get an offensive coordinator that neglects Forte and trusts Cutler's arm. That always seems to benefit the Packers.

Vikings

My Pre-Season Prediction: 5-11, last in the division
Actual: 3-13, last in the division

Well, the Donovan McNabb experiment failed. And I predicted that by midseason Christian Ponder would be the starting QB. I think everyone figured out quickly that the queens would struggle this year. I just don't think anyone thought that they would struggle THIS much. McNabb was awful. They released him and he hasn't signed with another team. Ponder has looked like a rookie. He may develop into a good QB, he may not. And the biggest blow came in week 16. Adrian Peterson went down with a torn ACL and MCL in a meaningless game. His status for the beginning of the 2012 season is in question. I never like to see anyone get hurt. So we here at the Malnarn wish him the best in his recovery.

All in all, I am very pleased with the result of the regular season. The Packers own the best record in football and are the #1 seed in the playoffs, the bears and queens are done, and barring a huge upset Aaron Rodgers should be the MVP. Let's enjoy this weekend of stress-less football watching. GO PACK!

Merry Christmas! Packers Sweep Bears, Clinch Home Field...

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. I know I did. It's always nice to see the Packers beat da Bears, especially when it's in convincing fashion. And it's even better when that victory comes with home field advantage in the playoffs. Now the road to Super Bowl XLVI goes through Green Bay. Here's my analysis of the Packers' 35-21 victory on Sunday night:

Things I Liked

Aaron Rodgers - He looked sharp again. Throwing for 280+ yards and 5 TDs. It was good to see that last week was a fluke.

Jordy Nelson - Jordy has been consistent this year and it was good to see him step up and grab a couple more TDs. We will need him to be productive to be successful in the playoffs.

James Jones - Jones looked great on Sunday. Grabbing 2 touchdowns and making catches in big spots. I believe this is what my blogging counterpart was thinking Jones would look like at the beginning of the season.

Offensive Line - The offensive line kept Rodgers clean all night. They only gave up 1 sack and it was in garbage time when Matt Flynn was in the game in the 4th quarter. Kudos to them for a great showing against a tough defense.

Special Teams - The coverage unit along with Tim Masthay and Mason Crosby bottled up Devin Hester. It was as if he was wearing Under Armor shoes...

Things I Did Not Like

Defense - The defense gave up over 400 yards again. Against a team with a bad offense who started their 3rd string RB and QB. The tackling was atrocious, there was no pass rush, and aside from 2 INTs the coverage was pretty bad too. I am really hoping that Capers has something up his sleeve to give us a shot in the playoffs.

JerMichael Finley - With the emergence of Tight End prominence in the NFL, there were high expectations for Finley coming into the 2011 season. He has not lived up to them. Coming into the game against the Bears, Finley had 11 dropped passes. I'm sure he recorded at least another 2 on Sunday. I don't doubt that Finley is an elite prospect and has the potential to be the best TE in the game, but he needs to work on his concentration. If he makes the catches that he needs to in big spots, the Packers may have still been undefeated and Finley may have a spot on the Pro Bowl roster. But as it stands now, his contract status is in question, and he is one of the leading players in the league in drops. We need him to step up in the absence of Jennings.

Overall it was a good game. The offense was in sync for the first time in a few weeks. Next week - a meaningless game against the Lions. Will the Packers play to win or rest their starters? That is the question. Go PACK!

It's Playoff Time!

It's been a bumpy road since we last posted, but we made it! The Packers squeezed into the playoffs as the #6 seed, edging out the Giants and Buccaneers with a 10-6 home win against the Bears. The game will be in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon against the Eagles. I think that this is a winnable game for the Pack, but it could be a very tough one. Here are my keys to the game:

#1 - The offense has to get into a groove early. When McCarthy calls plays in the first quarter to get Aaron Rodgers comfortable, he flourishes and the Packers generally win when they score a bunch of points.

#2 - Contain Vick. I'm not concerned about Michael Vick's arm. We have played good passing QBs this year and have won those games. It's his legs that scare me. When a 3rd and 14 play breaks down due to good coverage and the Pack only rushed 3, Vick runs for 20 yards. We need to avoid plays like that.

#3 - Tackle well. The Eagles are one of the best teams in the league at picking up Yards After the Catch. DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy are especially good at this.

#4 - Solid play on Special Teams. Special Teams play has been the downfall of the Packers in at least a few of the close losses this season. It was much improved last week against a dangerous Bears Special Teams with the likes of Devin Hester and Daniel Manning.

If the Pack can abide by those 4 keys, I think they advance to Atlanta to take on the Falcons next weekend. Go Pack!

It's Over...Who's to Blame?

The Pack came out on the wrong side of a thrilling game that will likely make up for at least 5 of Sportscenter's top 10 plays today. Now begins the long offseason full of "what ifs" and "what now's".

What if...

Rodgers doesn't throw the pick and Driver doesn't fumble on the first 2 possessions of the game...

Crosby doesn't miss the 54 yard field goal in the 1st half...

The Pack had better clock management and could have scored a TD at the end of the 2nd quarter instead of kicking a field goal...

The #2 ranked defense in the NFL could have come up with more than 2 stops during the entire game...

Rodgers didn't overthrow a wide-open Jennings on the first play from scrimmage in overtime...

Darren Colledge didn't hold on the Packer's overtime drive...

The Refs had called one of the roughing the passer penalties in overtime that were no-calls...

Needless to say, there were several things that could have gone slightly different to give the Pack the win. It just wasn't meant to be this year. Now come the big quesions as to what the Pack will do in Free Agency and the Draft to help our chances of not letting this happen next year. Will Al Harris be able to recover from his knee surgery and come back at full-strength? What is the future of Aaron Kampman? Can we re-sign our now free agents? Who do we target in the draft? O-line? CB? RB? That's what this blog is for and that's what we'll be talking about from here until draft day.

All in all, I believe this season was successful. After losing to the lowly Buccaneers the pack went 7-2 (including yesterday's playoff loss) and were very close to winning the division. This is still a very young team and has a bright future as long as we can keep it together. A few key offseason acquisitions (and an actual retirement of a certain old QB that plays for the queens) should be able to catapult this team to an easy division title and hopefully a deep playoff run in 2010. We find out in 2 days if Woodson wins DPOY.

GO PACK!

Wild Card Weekend: Packer-Card Pregame

Well we a little over 1 hour away from the start of the game and I'm very excited. The Packers are the favorite to win this game and with Boldin being listed as inactive, I think that we match up extremely well against the Cardinals.

The Packers are hot coming into the Playoffs and some people are picking them to make it to the SuperBowl. I don't know what will happen, but i'm excited that the Packers made the playoffs and I think that we should win this game.

I've just decided that i'm going to talk a little about the game and how I think it will need to go for the Pack to win.

First of all, I think that we need to start by playing great defense. We need to be able to put pressure on Warner without sacrificing our match ups in the secondary. If there is one part of the Packers' that makes me nervous it is the lack of depth we have at CB, and a lot of times it seems as though we leave Truman Williams and Bush in single coverage and without help. I think that is one of the keys to the game is for those guys to be successful and given help if they need it.

On offense, we need to stick with the gameplan. The Packers have been great running the ball lately and we need to be able to control the ball and keep it away from the Arizona offense. I feel very confident that the Packers offense will have success again this week.

When all is said and done, I think the Packers are the better team in this one and if we lose, it will be bad. I think that our defense plays strong and the packers cruise to a 28-17 victory.

Week 17: Packers vs. Cardinals

Well it has been a while again since I have posted, and the Packers are in the Playoffs! I remember back when the Packers lost to the Bucs thinking, "another disappointing season". They turned it on and here we are as a wildcard team and 10-5 record. I guess we all probably jumped to conclusions at that point.

Here we are, going against the Cardinals on Sunday, and in most likely cases, playing them again the first week of the Playoffs. I think that we match up pretty well with the Cardinals. Sure, they have some great wide recievers and we dont exactly have the depth at CB than we did with Harris in the lineup. Never the less, the offense is playing great and we have good balance. The defense is very good. They just need to get some more consistent play from our defensive backs going forward.

By the way....Mason Crosby kicked a 52 yard field goal last week! Yes, I said MADE! He will be fine, I'm not worried about him, he will make them when it counts I hope.

Also, off subject, but A.J. Hawk was selected as an alternate for the Pro Bowl. People are stupid. He is playing better lately, but come on, lets all quit living in the past when he still had potential.

Its hard for me to care that much about the Packer game tomorrow, I don't know what to expect for a game. Are they going to play the starters? Is it going to be a half ass competition like most NBA games? I sure hope not, but I'll tell you what, I think that the Packers should rest our key guys. We should pretend its preseason and make sure nobody gets hurt. We don't have that much to play for this week. We have to travel the first week of the playoffs no matter what.

Regardless of anything else, I think the Packers can and should win both games against the Cardinals!

Packers Sweep Da Bears Thanks to Defense!

After the dust settled, the Packers were 9-4 and in prime position for a wild-card playoff berth, while the Bears are now mathematically out of the playoff race. It wasn't pretty, but we've come a long way since the embarrassing loss to Tampa in November. Despite Ryan Grant's 137 yards rushing (with 2 TDs) and Rodgers throwing no INTs (even though he did have a screwy fumble that lead to the 2nd TD of the game for the bears), the Pack just couldnt seem to get anything going on the offensive side of the ball. The defense looked good again, with the exception of a couple of TD tosses by Cutler. 3 sacks, and 2 picks (and another 1 or 2 dropped) guaranteed a winning season for the boys from Green Bay.

Things I liked: Ryan Grant running tough. Pressure by the d-line and LBs. Improved play from Tramon Williams (with the exception of the 2nd quarter TD he gave up). The fact that the Bears gave up so much for a QB that isn't any better than Rex Grossman.

Things I didn't like: Mason Crosby missing another makeable FG (that's 6 out of the last 7 games that he's missed one). Rodgers holding the ball too long...again. Kicking FGs in the red zone.

All in all, it's a win and it was against Chicago so I'm happy. And with the flailing Steelers, the miserable Seahawks, and a Cardinals team that will likely be resting it's starters, the Pack are in good shape to make the playoffs this year! GO PACK!

It Wasn't Pretty...But it Counts!

In a hard-fought game on Monday night, the Packers came out on top with a 27-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens. If not for 3 turnovers, it could have very well been a shut out and a much higher score for the Packers' offense.

The Good Stuff: The Packers' D looks like they deserve their #1 ranking. The rookies look fantastic! It's not surprising that BJ Raji is improving now that his ankle is getting better (although he did reinjure it against the Ravens), but Brad Jones has done as good if not a better job than Aaron Kampman did at the OLB spot, and Clay Matthews has a legitimate shot at winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year for this season. JerMichael Finley looked good as well. Having him back in the lineup gives the offense some juice, and I like it!

The Bad Stuff: Penalties! I couldn't believe how many penalties went against the Pack on Monday. It was just ridiculous. I'm surprised we're the second most penalized team in the league this year...but the only reason i'm surprised is because I can't believe anyone else commits more penalties than we do! Tramon Williams is a great nickel DB. He's obviously got some improvement to make to be a starter though. Flacco was blatantly picking on him and rightfully so. Williams committed 3 pass interference penalties (although 2 i thought were questionable) and 2 of them were in the end zone, giving the ravens 1st and goal from the Pack's 1 yard line! Granted he did redeem himself by intercepting a Flacco pass 2 plays later on the 2nd, but still...there is no excuse for interefering so often.

All in all, the good outweighs the bad. The Packers are 8-4 and in prime position to make a playoff run. Let's all hope for some more losses by the Queens so we'll have a shot at a division championship. GO PACK!

The Lions are Improving...

But they still stink. Granted if Stafford and Calvin Johnson weren't both dinged up, it may have been a little closer but probably not. Even with the scare of the fumble on the opening kick off and quick score by Detroit, the Packers had the game well in hand by the beginning of the 2nd quarter. It made for a much more relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving Feast in the afternoon. But here's the good news:

Cowboys win (which makes little difference to us) and the Giants lose, which gives us another game of cushion in the playoff race. Now with the Ravens, Bears, Steelers, Seahawks, and Cardinals (respectively) ahead. I don't believe that there is any reason we wont finish with at least a 10 win season. Not even the Ravens and Steelers have had as impressive a season as anyone thought they would. Not to say they will be easy victories, but at 5-5 (Ravens) and 6-4 (Steelers) It's not impossible to think that we could end up at 12-4. The play of Cutler and the Bears has gotten worse since the opening game in Lambeau, and if the Pack don't win by at least 14, it will be a disappointment. If the Seahawks performance against the Queens is anyhting to go by, I believe that it should be the easiest game remaining on the schedule. The Cardinals will be tough, but hopefully they will have their playoff spot clinched at that point and sit Fitzgerald and Warner early. All in all, it's looking a lot brighter after losing to Tampa in week 9.

GO PACK!